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Steven Stamkos figured he was going to play against the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

That was until the Tampa Bay Lightning star got the results of a CT scan on his right leg a day earlier.

“I was really surprised,” Stamkos said. “Going into the meeting, I was probably expecting to play tonight, based on how I was feeling. It was a little shocking, to be honest.

“But at the same time, when you are dealing with a bone, you can never be 100% until you see it on the CT scan. If anything, I wish maybe we would have done that a little earlier, so I did not have my hopes as high as I did going into the meeting.”

Stamkos learned on Wednesday that the tibia in his right leg has not healed to the point that he is game-ready. Stamkos has not played since breaking his leg on Nov. 11 against the Boston Bruins.

The game against the Leafs at the Tampa Bay Times Forum will be the 40th Stamkos has missed since the injury occurred.

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle had thought the Leafs were going to face Stamkos, even though the Lightning had tabbed its game on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings for his return. That would have given Stamkos one game before the Olympics in Sochi; now, he will miss the Olympics and has been replaced by Tampa teammate Martin St. Louis. He will be evaluated again in two to three weeks.

“We felt it might be a possibility we would see him specifically because he was participating in contact drills (in practice),” Carlyle said. “If the doctors had cleared him yesterday, why would he have not played tonight? That didn’t transpire, and he is making a decision of what is best for his health. They think the extra two weeks he will have with the break will give him an opportunity to heal 100%.”

The Leafs will try to put behind a dreadful 4-1 loss in Florida against the Panthers on Tuesday.

The Lightning, with 69 points, is three ahead of the Leafs in the Atlantic Division.

“It’s a big two points,” Carlyle said. “We are in a position to chase this club, and I am sure they are looking at it as to put more distance between us and them.

“We have to put a little more pressure on ourselves in looking for a rebound game versus just forgetting about what happened the other night.”

Expect Jonathan Bernier to make his 11th start in the past 14 games in the Leafs’ net. Tampa will counter with Ben Bishop.

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Stamkos had expected to face Leafs

Steven Stamkos figured he was going to play against the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

That was until the Tampa Bay Lightning star got the results of a CT scan on his right leg a day earlier.

“I was really surprised,” Stamkos said. “Going into the meeting, I was probably expecting to play tonight, based on how I was feeling. It was a little shocking, to be honest.

“But at the same time, when you are dealing with a bone, you can never be 100% until you see it on the CT scan. If anything, I wish maybe we would have done that a little earlier, so I did not have my hopes as high as I did going into the meeting.”